The analysis of rank order preference data based on Bradley-Terry type models

The intention of this work is to demonstrate how to analyse complete rank ordered data by means of Bradley-Terry type models. The main idea is to transform the rankings into paired comparison data, which can be modelled within a log-linear framework. This approach allows to estimate object-specific parameters, which in the marketing context can be interpreted as attractions of the analysed objects. Additionally, the effects of subject-specific covariates on the attractions can be estimated by the presented models. The estimated subject parameters offer a statistically motivated approach for customer segmentation. The outlined methodology will be applied to preference judgements within the Austrian daily newspaper market. It is shown that certain socio-economic characteristics of the customers have significant influences on their preference structure.